Sea Shepherd Ambushed In Night Attack

Monday
February 24, 2014 – Melbourne, Australia — At
approximately 1936 AEDT yesterday, the Japanese whaling
fleet launched an unprovoked six-hour night attack on the
Sea Shepherd conservation ship, The Bob Barker. The harpoon
ships, Yushin Maru and Yushin Maru No. 3, crossed the
bow of The Bob Barker a total of thirty-three times at
close range during the assault, dragging 250-metre and
150-metre steel cable, respectively, across the bow of The
Bob Barker in an attempt to disable the conservation
ship’s propellers and rudders.

The Bob Barker was
sailing six nautical miles behind the factory
vessel, Nisshin Maru at 73° 08’ S 175° 33’ E when
the attack commenced. The assault was an attempt to
deter The Bob Barker from blocking the slipway of
the Nisshin Maru, where it was preventing the whalers’
ability to load whales poached from the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary.

The Nisshin Maru was located early on Sunday
morning for the third time this season by The Steve
Irwin’s helicopter. However, the whaling vessels delayed
an attack on The Bob Barker until Sunday night, launching
their onslaught on the conservation vessel under the cover
of darkness.

Captain Peter Hammarstedt of The Bob
Barker reports: “I radioed the harpoon ships to let them
know that our operations are completely lawful and that any
aggressive action on their part would be reported to the
Australian government and New Zealand Search and Rescue, and
that Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt had been
contacted. I have nine Australians and one New Zealander on
board as part of my brave crew who have endured this
ruthless assault. We maintain unwavering dedication in the
face of an increasingly vicious onslaught from the poachers,
the last line of defence standing between these criminals
and the protected whales they are targeting to
kill.”

The harpoon ships crossed the bow of The Bob
Barker fifteen times from port to starboard during the
attack in violation of the International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)

The whaling
fleet’s crew threw ice at the crew of The Bob
Barker small boats, which were launched to defend the
conservation ship from the onslaught. The whalers also
blinded The Bob Barker Bridge with powerful searchlights,
impairing vision and endangering navigation. At 0100 AEDT,
the Nisshin Maru was lost from The Bob
Barker’s radar.

The Bob Barker is currently within
close range of the Yushin Maru and the Yushin Maru No.
3, and can confirm that the two harpoon vessels are unable
to whale. Since locating the Nisshin Maru early Sunday
morning, the Sea Shepherd Fleet was able to chase the
factory vessel out of the Ross Sea. The Steve
Irwin and The Sam Simon are trail-free and shadowing
the Nisshin Maru.

It is the second time this month
that The Bob Barker has been attacked by the Japanese
whaling fleet without provocation. On February 2, the
conservation ship was struck by the Yushin Maru No. 3 in a
nine-hour attack on the Sea Shepherd ships, during which the
harpoon ships crossed the bows of the Sea Shepherd ships a
total of 86 times.

In December last year, the Australian
government committed to sending an aircraft to monitor this
year’s whaling operations. Earlier this month, New Zealand
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully, indicated the
possibility of “relationship consequences” between New
Zealand and Japan as the result of an incursion by
the Shonan Maru No. 2, the Japanese whaling fleet’s
security vessel, into New Zealand waters.

Managing
Director of Sea Shepherd Australia, Jeff Hansen, said,
“The Bob Barker is in the Southern Ocean to defend the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from the illegal Japanese
whalers. Both Australia and New Zealand are parties to the
Sanctuary. Both the Australian and New Zealand governments
have legally challenged the Japanese whaling operations at
the International Court of Justice. So were are these
governments now, when their citizens and the Sanctuary are
under attack from these poachers?”

New Zealand likes to think we played our part – via the 1981 Springbok tour – in bringing the apartheid regime in South Africa to an end… Jacob Zuma treated the death of Fidel Castro at the weekend as an occasion to pay a heartfelt tribute to the thousands of Cuban soldiers who travelled across the world to inflict the first significant military defeat on the forces of white supremacy. More>>

Once again at the business end of a US election, the result will hinge on the same old bits of geography as always: the Five Crucial Counties in Ohio, the Two Crucial Counties in Pennsylvania and the I-4 Interstate Corridor in Florida that runs from Tampa Bay through Orlando to Daytona Beach. More>>

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is convinced of having obtained irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, flight MH-17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series. According to the JIT there is also evidence identifying the launch location that involves an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi which, at the time, was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. More>>

ALSO:

Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres has emerged as the clear favourite to become the next United Nations Secretary-General following the sixth secret ballot held today by the UN Security Council, which is expected to take a formal decision tomorrow and forward Mr. Guterres’ name to the 193-Member General Assembly for final confirmation. More>>

The coverage of international news seems almost entirely dependent on a random selection of whatever some overseas news agency happens to be carrying overnight... Here are a few interesting international stories that have largely flown beneath the radar this past week. More>>

Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, most of whom have been held there for three years, routinely face neglect by health workers and other service providers who have been hired by the Australian government, as well as frequent unpunished assaults by local Nauruans. More>>